PPM Calculator — Personally Procured Move, 2026

Work out what the government owes you when you move yourself, what you’ll spend doing it, and what you actually pocket.

The acronyms, once, in plain English. The military runs on them, and every one below shows up in your orders or at the counter.

PCS: Permanent Change of Station — the official move to your next duty station.
PPM: Personally Procured Move — you move your own household goods and the government pays you for it. Used to be called a DITY move (Do-It-Yourself), and plenty of people still say DITY.
HHG: Household Goods — your furniture and belongings, as opposed to your vehicles.
TMO / JPPSO: Transportation Office, or Joint Personal Property Shipping Office — the people on base who authorize and pay your move. At JBLM this is JPPSO Northwest.
GCC: Government Constructed Cost — what it would have cost the government to move your things. Your PPM payment is based on this figure.
DLA: Dislocation Allowance — a one-time payment toward the cost of setting up a new household.
MALT: Monetary Allowance in Lieu of Transportation — the per-mile payment for driving yourself instead of flying.
POV: Privately Owned Vehicle — your car. (The regulations say “privately owned”; you’ll hear “personally owned” just as often. Same thing.)
SIT: Storage in Transit — temporary storage the government may cover when your housing dates don’t line up.
JTR: Joint Travel Regulations — the rulebook every figure on this page comes from.

2026 rates · MALT $0.235 per mile for travel starting July 1, 2026 ($0.205 before) · PPM paid at 100% of the Government Constructed Cost · last verified 3 September 2026

1 · Who’s moving Exact

These fields set your weight allowance and DLA, both of which are published tables — the figures below are the real ones, not estimates.

Enlisted or officer

Pay grade

Dependents

Dependents age 12+ Traveling with you

Dependents under 12

Distance in miles The official ordered route on your orders, not the scenic one

That is further than any CONUS PCS — check the figure.

Vehicles you’ll drive POVs — privately owned vehicles. Mileage is paid per authorized vehicle.

2 · What the government pays you Exact

Straight from the 2026 published tables. Round these to the dollar and you can take them to the bank.

Household goods (HHG) weight allowanceProfessional gear is on top of this — 2,000 lb for you, 500 lb for a spouse — and doesn’t count against it

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Dislocation Allowance (DLA)One-time payment toward setting up the new household

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MALT — mileage for driving yourself$0.235 per mile per authorized vehicle (travel starting July 1, 2026 or later)

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Per diem while drivingMember $178/day · dependents 12+ $133.50 · under 12 $89.00. The daily rate is the same whether you drive or fly; driving pays more because it earns more travel days, plus MALT.

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Entitlements before your PPM payment

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3 · Your PPM payment Estimate

In 2026 a Personally Procured Move pays 100% of the Government Constructed Cost (GCC) — what it would have cost the government to move your certified weight, capped at your allowance. We are not going to pretend we can compute that number.

The honest bit. GCC comes out of the government’s contracted rate tables, which vary by weight bracket, route and season and are not public. Your Transportation Office or MilMove computes it. Every calculator that shows you a precise PPM payment is guessing. Ask TMO for your GCC before you commit to a PPM — it is one question and it decides whether the move is worth doing.

Estimated net weight (lbs)

GCC from your Transportation Office, if you have it ($) Government Constructed Cost. Leave blank for a rough band.

Weight the government will pay onLesser of your certified weight and your allowance

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Estimated PPM paymentBefore tax withholding

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4 · What it costs you Your numbers

A PPM only pays if you come in under the GCC. Put real quotes in here, not optimistic ones — fuel and the second vehicle are what usually sink the maths.

Who is moving it

Their quote, or the rental ($)

Weight ticket fee ($)

Fuel ($)

Boxes, tape, blankets ($)

Loading / unloading help ($)

Storage between dates ($)

Shipping a second vehicle ($)

Lodging beyond per diem ($)

Anything else ($)

Total out of pocket

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5 · Where you land

Entitlements (DLA, MALT, per diem)

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PPM paymentAn estimate until your Transportation Office gives you the GCC

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Your costs

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Roughly what you keep

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Tax. The PPM incentive is taxable income, but not all of it is taxed. Your receipted moving costs, such as the truck or container rental, fuel, packing supplies, weigh fees and hired loading help, are subtracted first, and federal tax is withheld from the profit that is left. Keep every receipt. DLA, MALT and per diem are not taxed. The figure above is before that withholding.

6 · What you still have to arrange

Based on what you entered above. These are the pieces the government does not handle for you on a PPM.

7 · Get the rest of it quoted

The government arranges none of section 6 for you. Tell us which pieces you still need and we put one provider on each — not the same request sold round a room of movers. Ticking the boxes costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.

ScoutLocale is a relocation guide, not a moving company. We pass your details to one provider per item you tick, only if you tick the consent box, and only for the items you ticked. We never sell your details, never send the same request to several companies bidding for it, and never call you ourselves. Privacy policy.

Which base are you moving to?

This page is the same wherever you are posted — the entitlement rules, the carriers and the paperwork do not change with the installation. What does change is gates, housing, the local offices and the housing allowance, and that lives in each base guide.

Our base guide today is Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington. More are in the works.